The frozen novelty business is a multi-billion dollar industry. The category of better-for-you products is a rapidly growing segment of the overall novelty market. Products made from portions of frozen bananas are nutritious foods and gaining popularity. They may be eaten on a stick or from a container. U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,614, U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,056, and US Patent Application 2010/0119683, to Feldpausch, disclose preparation of non-dairy frozen confection products based on a banana puree. This art teaches a product with taste and mouth feel similar to soft serve ice cream, frozen yogurt and Dole Whip™, which are best served in a cone, cup, or bowl. To form a soft-serve texture, these inventions intentionally whip air into the puree as is common practice with ice cream production. This whipping process is referred to as overrun.
One disadvantage of the frozen fruit composition of Feldpausch is that it is best suited for immediate consumption. That method, therefore, is ill-suited mass production of pre-packaged products. Therefore, there is a need for improved apparatus(s) and methods for mass production of frozen banana products.